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Independent school accused of prioritising ‘cash kids’ enrolments over safe environment

by www.abc.net.au Leave a Comment

An independent school in Far North Queensland has been accused of putting profits ahead of the welfare of students and staff by chasing significant federal funding incentives attached to boarding students from remote Indigenous communities.

Key points:

  • An elder says school too focused on enrolling “cash kids” from remote NT communities
  • His criticism has been echoed by staff and others from within the education sector
  • The school says it stands for inclusion and accepts applications from remote families in the NT

Djarragun College at Gordonvale, in the southern suburbs of Cairns, has reopened after being closed for two days following a brawl between students, some allegedly armed with metal bars.

The fight on June 20 left a 17-year-old boy in hospital with head injuries.

Parents and staff said the incident was just the latest violent episode and the by-product of a school executive that had failed in providing a duty of care for students and teachers and a safe environment conducive to learning.

But the school executive has defended the way it operates, saying it “provides education and support that no other school can or will”.

Djarragun College is run by Cape York Partnerships and has about 400 students enrolled from prep to year 12.

It also has a boarding facility that caters for young people from remote communities in Queensland and the Northern Territory.

Elder critical of governance

Yarrabah is the nation’s largest discrete Indigenous community with a population of about 4,000 people and is less than 40 kilometres from Djarragun College’s Gordonvale campus.

Percy Neal is a respected Yarrabah Elder and its former mayor.

He said his community once provided a large cohort of day students to the college, but families were increasingly sending their children to other schools in the catchment area due to ongoing issues at Djarragun.

Mr Neal has accused the school executive of failing future generations of First Australians.

“You can’t blame the kids … as an ex-mayor, I’ve sat on [boards] of a lot of Aboriginal companies … the governance is not right,” he said.

School defends funding

Mr Neal said he supported moves to offer educational opportunities for children from remote Northern Territory communities, but believed the school executive was more motivated by money than providing for students.

“The idea is a really good idea, but the governance is bad, it’s terrible,” he said.

Mr Neal, a prominent Aboriginal activist, believed the school had been mixing students from different Indigenous communities in Cape York, the Torres Strait and the Northern Territory without adequate thought for cultural sensitivities.

He said he offered suggestions to school leaders, but was ignored.

“They should have respectable Elders come down from these communities every now and then to have a presence in the school,” he said.

In a statement to the ABC , Djarragun College said Mr Neal “has not requested a meeting with [executive principal] Dr Michael Barton, nor ever met with him, however Dr Barton extends an opportunity to meet to discuss his concerns”.

It also defended its funding arrangements.

“Djarragun as an independent college receives a great deal less in state and federal incentives due to its independent status, despite the level of poverty experienced by the families enrolled,” the statement said.

‘Different laws, different rules’

Mr Neal’s criticisms of Djarragun College echoed comments made by staff and others associated with the school that not enough was being done to build cultural connections, which had resulted in conflict.

“They’re coming from different laws, different rules in their own community … because these kids don’t understand each other, it’s easy to offend another group,” a staff member said.

In its statement, the college said it stood for inclusion and maintained it had various programs in place to address the issues which arose by catering for young people from different language groups and cultural backgrounds.

It said all students were encouraged to live and work together and to leave kinship differences in their communities.

Principal rejects critics’ claims

The ABC made repeated requests to interview Djarragun College’s executive principal Dr Michael Barton, but he declined.

However, in its extensive statement, the college said “internal and external investigations continue into Monday’s incident”.

It said the school worked tirelessly to support students and families through the complexities brought about by chronic disadvantage.

“No-one else picks up kids door to door because these kids are often homeless, or pick up laundry from their homeless families, or delivers food during COVID lockdown, or offer cultural outreach services, or internet connections in remote homes during COVID schooling.”

You can read Djarragun’s statement in full here .

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Uvalde victims’ loved ones plead for answers from City Council as school district police chief a no-show yet again

by www.chron.com Leave a Comment

Parents and loved ones of the victims of the shooting at Robb Elementary School pressed Uvalde City Council members Thursday for details on the official investigation into the tragedy — but their requests for more information were, once again, denied.

Their pleas come as police and Uvalde government officials have routinely denied access to details of the shooting requested by media, elected officials and family members of the 19 children and two teachers killed May 24 inside the small school about 100 miles west of San Antonio. At Thursday’s scheduled council meeting in Uvalde, Mayor Don McLaughlin said the Texas Department of Public Safety and Uvalde County District Attorney’s Office said releasing such information would jeopardize the investigation.

“We’re looking for some answers that nobody seems to be getting and it’s just making Uvalde PD and everybody else look even more guilty,” said Berlinda Arreola, who is the grandmother of a young girl killed in the shooting according to ABC News .

“Nobody’s giving us any answers,” said another family member of a teacher killed, who did not publicly identify herself when speaking to council members, according to The Texas Tribune . “It’s been over a month. You have no idea how frustrating that is. We’re sitting here, just listening to empty words.”

Council members received an update on the investigation behind closed doors Thursday night, but McLaughlin declined to release any findings publicly.

“We’re not trying to hide anything from you,” McLaughlin said during the meeting. “We don’t have anything.”

Parents and loved ones were also upset that Pete Arredondo, the Uvalde CISD police chief who ordered cops to wait nearly an hour before confronting the shooter, has yet to show up to a council meeting. Arredondo was elected as a council member earlier this year and sworn in on June 1. He has missed two regular meetings and a special emergency meeting. If he misses the next regular meeting, he could be eligible for a recall election .

Private Schools Partner with Org. Encouraging Child Transgenderism

by www.breitbart.com Leave a Comment

The National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) hosted an online professional development conference in partnership with Gender Spectrum, a leftwing organization that encourages child transgenderism and even partners with surgeons who perform sex change operations on children.

The NAIS, which is responsible for the accreditation of over 1,800 private schools across America, hosted a five-day conference titled the Inclusive Schools Network Institute in conjunction with Gender Spectrum, an organization that pushes transgenderism on children and advances leftwing beliefs on gender in K-12 classrooms.

The conference, archived here , seeks to offer “effective ways to address the increasing gender diversity across the K-12 experience,” also explaining that the conference is intended for heads of schools, teachers, “diversity and equity professionals,” curriculum specialists, and other administrative staff at K-12 schools. “The institute also recognizes the nature of gender and its intersections with power, identity, and other dynamics,” according to the conference description.

The conference, which costs as much as $2,025 to attend, will cover “dimensions of gender, key terminology, and the spectrum framework for gender” as well as a “half-day workshop on gender at the intersection of race, power, and identity.”

Gender Spectrum, which the NAIS calls “a national leader in creating gender-sensitive and positively responsive environments” and is facilitating the conference, promotes books like “The Transgender Child: A Handbook for Families and Professionals” under their Educator Resources . Among the other books are “The Transgender Teen” and “The Gender Creative Child.”

Gender Spectrum hosts discussion groups specifically intended for minors, such as their “Pre-Teen Discussion Group” which is “open to trans, nonbinary and gender expansive youth ages 11-12.” Another group is called the  the “Black Trans and Non-Binary Teen Online Discussion Group.” The group mixes minors and adults and is open to those between the ages of 13 and 19.

In conjunction with their work aimed at young children, Gender Spectrum also provides information about surgeries such as mastectomies, vaginoplasties, and even operations that alter individuals’ facial structure in order to make them appear more or less feminine and masculine. These events are all part of a series on what the organization refers to as “gender affirming surgeries.”

The leftwing organization even directly partners with Align Surgical Associates, a group of surgeons that offers what they refer to as “gender confirmation surgery.” Align Surgery Associates mentions “young trans patients” and “guardians” on their website, indicating that they operate on minors. Additionally, Gender Spectrum partners with the Gender Confirmation Center, which also operates on minors .

The conference will be facilitated by Joel Baum and Carla Pena of Gender Spectrum, as well as Caroline Blackwell, the NAIS vice president of equity and justice and Tony Hernandez, the NAIS project and training manager of equity and justice.

Breitbart News previously revealed that the NAIS had adopted “queer inclusive” curriculum, with transgender ideology being taught to students in pre-kindergarten. Footage from a teacher training lecturer telling her audience that she discussed female anatomy, in detail, with children in pre-K.

The purpose of the training was to instruct teachers on how to discuss “gender, and sexuality, and identity” with students from pre-K to grade 8. One presentation featured the “gender unicorn” graphic, which is used to assert that sex and gender are distinct. A lecturer at the conference also derided parents who engage in “Puritan speak,” citing examples such as “what if my child isn’t ready,” “that’s my job,” and even “they’re too young to know that.”

The NAIS did not respond to a request for comment.

Spencer Lindquist is a Reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SpencerLndqst and reach out at [email protected]

Government says it has ‘no power to investigate’ school after alleged metal bar assault

by www.abc.net.au Leave a Comment

Queensland’s Department of Education says it is powerless to investigate claims an independent school in the state’s Far North is failing in its duty of care to students and staff.

Key points:

  • An Indigenous education organisation is urging the education department to investigate an independent school
  • The department says such action falls outside its jurisdiction
  • IEBA says changes to national guidelines and funding arrangements could improve accountability for Indigenous boarding schools

Last week, a 17-year-old boy was hospitalised with head injuries following a brawl between students, some of whom police allege were armed with metal bars, at Djarragun College, in the southern suburbs of Cairns.

The ABC has since been told by multiple sources another brawl erupted between female students days later.

Parents and staff have told the ABC that violence and other serious behavioural issues are commonplace and result from the school executive’s failure to address cultural tensions, particularly within the boarding environment.

In response, Djarragun College executive principal Michael Barton said the school was “working tirelessly to support students and families to meet the complex factors of trans-generational adverse structural impacts”.

His full statement can be read here .

Indigenous Education and Boarding Australia (IEBA) chief executive officer Greg Franks said his organisation was aware of myriad complaints about the school’s alleged failure to provide a physically and culturally safe environment.

Mr Franks said it was incumbent upon both the Department of Education and the Non-State Schools Accreditation Board (NSSAB) to investigate the claims and issue a public response.

“There should be a response, and that being made public would assure us all that there is action being taken,” he said.

“If [the department or NSSAB are] dealing with Djarragun directly, that doesn’t help anybody be reassured … if you’re a parent and you can’t see what’s being done, there’s no assurance in that.

“[The department] needs to state publicly what it is doing so we can all then see whether that’s the right thing, whether it’s going to fix the problem, or at least know on what time frame they’re going to be fixed.”

No jurisdiction, department says

A spokesperson for the Department of Education said because Djarragun College was an accredited non-state school, it would be left to the executive to meet its obligations in relation to student and staff safety.

“Neither the Minister for Education nor the department has jurisdiction to investigate complaints about non-state schools as these schools operate independently from the government,” the spokesperson said.

The department acknowledged it had been contacted in relation to concerns about Djarragun College, but referred the complainant to the NSSAB.

The NSSAB is an independent statutory body responsible for the accreditation and ongoing monitoring and regulation of all non-state schools in Queensland.

The board may investigate non-state schools to ensure their compliance with legislation if there is evidence that prescribed accreditation criteria have been breached.

The Department of Education spokesperson said strict confidentiality provisions in the Education (Accreditation of Non-State Schools) Act 2017 limited the amount of information NSSAB was able to provide about investigations into schools.

Calls for new guidelines

Mr Franks believes the alleged problems within Djarragun College highlight broader issues around the lack of national guidelines for Indigenous boarding schools.

“Our organisation believes strongly that we really do need to have some Indigenous-specific cultural guidelines to help boarding facilities know what [are] good practices and what are the minimum expectations,” he said.

A spokesperson for the National Indigenous Australians Agency (NIAA) said it welcomed further discussions with IEBA and other interested parties.

Mr Franks said IEBA was also in favour of refinements to ABSTUDY to attach performance indicators to the funding boarding schools received for remote students.

“There are no expectations in terms of the educational outcomes for the dollars the Commonwealth puts in, and there should be,” he said.

“So in any situation where boarding students aren’t attending the classrooms, that is truly a failure within that school for its inability to get a kid from their bed in the morning into the classroom for the first lesson.”

A social services spokesperson said the department was not considering changes to ABSTUDY to incorporate KPIs for attendance and learning outcomes.

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Fears lives are in jeopardy as school brawl allegedly involving metal bars puts teen in hospital

by www.abc.net.au Leave a Comment

Parents and staff at an independent school in Far North Queensland say a brawl involving students allegedly armed with metal bars is just the latest episode in a saga of ongoing violence.

Key points:

  • Parents and staff say Djarragun College has failed to provide a safe environment for students and workers
  • A 17-year-old boy was hospitalised with head injuries following a brawl at the school on Monday
  • The school board says it is taking the matter seriously and has launched an investigation

Queensland Police confirmed officers were called to Djarragun College at Gordonvale, in the southern suburbs of Cairns, where a number of teenage boys were involved in a large physical altercation on Monday.

A 17-year-old boy suffered head injuries and was taken to Cairns Base Hospital for treatment.

He has since been discharged.

Some of the teens were allegedly armed with metal bars taken from a nearby construction site.

No charges have been laid, but the school has been closed while investigations continue.

Djarragun College is run by Cape York Partnerships and has about 400 students enrolled from prep to year 12.

It also has a boarding facility that caters for young people from remote communities in Queensland and the Northern Territory.

‘Completely lost control’

The mother of a Djarragun College student said her child had been seriously assaulted twice in recent weeks and that she was angry at the school for failing in its duty of care.

“These guys are supposed to be the guardians of my daughter while she’s at school,” she said.

“They can’t even guarantee the staff safety.

“They’ve completely lost control of the students at the school.

“The staff have no control, the principal has no control.”

The ABC has chosen not to identify the mother in order to protect her child’s identity.

‘Ready to snap at any time’

Staff members and others associated with Djarragun College also spoke to the ABC on the condition of anonymity for fear of losing their jobs and other retribution.

All of them described this week’s brawl as typical of regular incidents of violent behaviour among students and alleged staff had been assaulted, repeatedly threatened and abused over the past 18 months.

A staff member said they held grave fears for the safety of both students and staff, while another described the school environment as “dangerous”.

They say it is “only a matter of time before someone is seriously injured”.

“A student or a staff member could die — we are at that point now,” a staff member said.

“Monday’s [incident] — that young person could have died.

“That could happen to any staff member at any given time, because these young people, because of their own trauma and their own behaviours, they are like elastic bands ready to snap at any time.”

They said repeated requests to the school’s principal and executive to address serious safety and cultural issues had been ignored and that the college was failing both students and staff by not providing a safe environment conducive to learning.

“All students across the school, they’re learning – socially, emotionally, psychologically, academically – all kids are at risk here,” a staff member said.

Probe underway, board says

Stephen Codrington, the chair of Djarragun College’s board of directors, said the school was treating Monday’s incident seriously and was conducting its own investigation.

“There were a number of kids involved and [we] need to make sure that there’s procedural fairness, that everybody has an opportunity to give their side of the story,” Dr Codrington said.

“From the board’s point of view, we’re on the same page as the management of the school — we want an environment where every student and teacher can feel safe and secure.

Independent Education Union Queensland branch secretary Terry Burke said Monday’s incident further highlighted the need for significant and urgent intervention at the school.

“In the case of Djarragun College, our union has raised concerns about the safety of staff and students with the school employer in the last 18 months,” he said.

“[We’re] now seeking an urgent meeting with the employer to confirm the school’s comprehensive risk management plan to protect staff and student safety and wellbeing.”

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